Marrickville Greens Councillor and Greens candidate for Summer Hill, Max Phillips, has laid the blame for the Inner West’s unfair aircraft noise burden at the feet of both Labor and Liberal parties for signing off the last two Sydney Airport Master Plans, and warned a second airport could increase noise over the Inner West.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that the Inner West is copping the bulk of aircraft noise.

“In 2009, Anthony Albanese as Transport Minister, signed off on the Sydney Airport Master Plan, which forecast increasing air traffic and noise for the Inner West for the next 20 years. Now in 2014 the Abbott Government has signed off on an almost identical Master Plan,” said Greens Councillor Max Phillips.

“These Master Plans intensify traffic to the point where in a few years 80 flights per hour will be scheduled for most of the day, meaning the the North-South runways will have to be in use for most of the day regardless of the wind direction. The East-West runway will effectively be mothballed with residents of the Inner West copping almost all the noise.

“Rather than get tough with the Sydney Airport Corporation about noise sharing, successive transport ministers simply ticked off on their expansion plans while holding up the distant prospect of a second airport as some kind of panacea.

“A second airport at Badgerys Creek may only make noise over the Inner West worse because it will have a short runway that can only take smaller planes, therefore freeing up slots at Kingsford-Smith Airport for larger and louder planes flying over out the Inner West.

“Rather than just signing off on ever intensifying aircraft noise, the Government should be looking at options to reduce noise such as lowering the hourly aircraft movement cap, extending the curfew, restricting the types of aircraft that can take off late at night and early in the morning, and putting pressure on the Sydney Airport Corporation to share the noise burden as was originally intended under the operating plan.”

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The Marrickville and Petersham-Newtown Greens are the local groups for members of The Greens political party living in the Sydney suburbs of Dulwich Hill, Enmore, Lewisham, Marrickville, Newtown, Petersham, St Peters, Stanmore, Sydenham and Tempe.

All electoral comment on this site authorised by Richard Morrell 19 Eve Street Erskinville NSW